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Heritage Owners Club

Artisan vs natural ageing


ElNumero

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A few years ago, well before this Artisan ageing thing appeared, I bought a Heritage H150 in VSB. It was my second VSB 150, the first of which I sold to DavesNotHere. I think Dave has since sold it also. But when I got the second one, I was agast with horror! The seller did not disclose the massive checking on the top and the complete checking of the back side! There was also a small gash on the lower bout near the input jack. The photos he posted on Ebay did not show any of this. Anyhow, upon my request, he refunded me $150 back. I am very happy I made that purchase. I got a really nice already aged H150 for $1450 with a gorgeous flamed top! 

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People could just play the living crap out of their guitars, and they will age all by themselves. After 20 years of gigging in Phoenix, my Heritage guitars are all aged very well, especially "Blackie" and my goldtop.

Just play and sweat. It will get to the right place.

rooster.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 5/10/2021 at 7:38 PM, rooster said:

People could just play the living crap out of their guitars, and they will age all by themselves. After 20 years of gigging in Phoenix, my Heritage guitars are all aged very well, especially "Blackie" and my goldtop.

Just play and sweat. It will get to the right place.

rooster.

There you go.

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I have been studying the Vietnam war for over 5 years.  I mainly read books written by the people who were there.  I am planning on having my wife help me make a few Viet Cong flags to give to people, to burn if they wish, and one to the local museum.  I will age the hell out of these flags before giving them away.  They are intended to be replicas.
My taste in guitars doesn't lead me in this direction.  Every time I get a senseless scratch on a guitar it bothers me.  I sold my Marvbird because I was so uptight around it -especially when other people asked to play it.  I hate when people grab my 535 and start dive bombing the Bigsby.  All of that said, if I want a reliced guitar I will make it a relic myself.  Sell me a guitar in perfect condition.  I will take care of the rest. 

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I think most of us agree that there is something truly special about a well played and worn in guitar, the reality is most people cant afford the vintage price tags.  I don't see the issue with trying to get as close to the real thing as possible, especially when the difference in dollars can be anywhere from 10 to 100x's more. 

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I have minty new guitars that I have played/gigged for years and babied.  And I have new relic'd guitars that I have played/giged for years.  I now prefer relic'd guitars.  Why? Because I am not afraid to take out relic'd guitars to gigs/jams with without fear of a ding happening. AND I feel relic'd guitars feel better, lighter, and have less finish so they sound better.

The BEST argument I heard for relic'd guitars was this comment; "Everyone talks about true, honest, player-wear on vintage guitars.  So people like the played-in wear on vintage guitars. BUT if they think about it, it wasn't THEIR played-in wear, it was someone else's.  So what is the difference in buying a vintage guitar with someone else relic'ing it or a new guitar that someone else relic'd from the luthier/factory?"

In the end, that wear wasn't YOUR honest wear on either accounts.

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12 hours ago, Kuz said:

I have minty new guitars that I have played/gigged for years and babied.  And I have new relic'd guitars that I have played/giged for years.  I now prefer relic'd guitars.  Why? Because I am not afraid to take out relic'd guitars to gigs/jams with without fear of a ding happening. AND I feel relic'd guitars feel better, lighter, and have less finish so they sound better.

The BEST argument I heard for relic'd guitars was this comment; "Everyone talks about true, honest, player-wear on vintage guitars.  So people like the played-in wear on vintage guitars. BUT if they think about it, it wasn't THEIR played-in wear, it was someone else's.  So what is the difference in buying a vintage guitar with someone else relic'ing it or a new guitar that someone else relic'd from the luthier/factory?"

In the end, that wear wasn't YOUR honest wear on either accounts.

That's one of the best arguments for relic'ing I've heard yet! I don't own a relic guitar, but I've played some nice ones.

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I always liked the Gibbons VOS type of aging, and the Fender Closet Classic line. Not too much of an over the top of a look. I just thought that Heritage just went way overboard with the amount of weather checking on their Artisan line.

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Can't say that any of mine are stonewashed...  Several are reliced, with frayed spots on the legs, knees that are a bit thin, and one's got a hole in the pocket.   If they get much worse,  I'll just buy some new ones!   I certainly wouldn't spend $75 for something that looked like this!

 

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